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42.04 APPLICATION FOR PERMIT FOR SIIRFACE OR IINDERGROIIND MINING ACTIVITIES -- <br />_ MINIMOM REQIIIREMENTS FOR INFORMATION ON ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES. <br />2.04,11 Fish and Wildlife Resources Information. (Cont'd.) <br />(1) (Cont'd.) <br />Consumers <br />Consumer groups on which there is information available ere <br />the macrobenthic organisms and fish life. There are no data <br />on zooplankton, however, it is usual in small, cold-water <br />streams that zooplankton do not develop populations that con- <br />tribute significanCly to the food chain. It is also unlikely <br />that there is a significant input from the zooplankton of <br />Paonia Reservoir for the same reasons discussed under primary <br />production. <br />Macrobenthos <br />In general the cobble bottom provides a good substrate and <br />there appears to be a fairly rich diversity of benthic life. <br />A minimum of fifty-seven taxa have been reported representing <br />seven orders of insects, plus snails, crustaceans, annelid <br />worms, arachnids, leaches, oligochaete worms and nematodes. <br />Major groups of insects were stoneflies, caddisflies, true- <br />flies, beetles, mayflies, dragonflies and true bugs. Table <br />2.04-21 in the Fish and Wildlife Appendix, Volim!e 9A, shows <br />the major categories of ben[hic organisms taken and an indica- <br />tion of their abundance as reported in the second quarterly <br />report on river studies by the Thorne Ecological Institute. <br />Numerically, the most abundant groups found were the flies, <br />oligochaete worms and snails. The groups with the greatest <br />number of species identified were the chironomid flies (13+) <br />and the caddisflies (7). <br />Although most organisms were small, there was a moderate den- <br />sity of benthic life. The density of organisms (not including <br />the small flies) ranged from approximately 300 to 1800 per <br />square meter and averaged 950. Overall density, including all <br />small organisms averaged approximately 3,100 per square me- <br />ter. <br />In general the diversity of benthic organisms and densities <br />found indicated relatively good conditions of water quality. <br />Fish <br />Fish life of the North Fork of the Gunnison as a whole has not <br />been intensively studied. Available information primarily <br />consists of stocking and sport fishing records and electros- <br />hock data from the Division of Wildlife and ongoing aquatic <br />• Added 12/26/84 <br />Revised 1OJ01{87 <br />80 <br />